Prior to the present invention a rigid cartridge containing a flexible recording disk has been loaded by a loading tray and registered in a disk drive by registration pins. The loading tray or cartridge holder has been used to receive the cartridge and move it to the loaded position on the pins. Examples of such loading apparatus are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,800,325; 3,845,502 and 4,272,795.
Possibly the clearest example of the prior art technique is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,845,502 issued to Robert L. Paus. In the Paus patent, the diskette cartridge contains registration holes that mate with registration pins on the disk drive frame. The cartridge is loaded by placing it in a cartridge holder or carriage. The carriage pivots between the load and unload positions. As the carriage pivots down onto the disk drive frame, it lowers the cartridge on to the registration pins. The registration holes in the cartridge, when they mate with the registration pins on the frame, position the cartridge relative to the disk drive spindle.
The difficulty with such prior art apparatus is that it is bulky and complex. Diskette drives are typically used as a part of another device such as a computer, a computer terminal or a typewriter. It is most important that the drive be compact, simple and low-cost. Use of a carriage to move the diskette cartridge into the drive works against making the drive a compact, simple and low-cost device.